The art of stud welding is well known. The present invention is directed to that part of the stud welding art employing a manual stud welding tool. Prior art workers have devised a number of different types of stud welding tools, all of which operate in substantially the same manner. The tool operator manually mounts an individual stud on the electrode of the tool. The operator then causes the tool to press the free end of the stud against the workpiece surface at the position to which the stud is to be mounted. Electrical current is imparted to the stud which is slightly raised from the workpiece to initiate an arc. The free end surface of the stud and the adjacent surface area of the workpiece are rendered molten by the arc. The molten end of the stud is pressed against the molten surface of the workpiece to weld the stud to the workpiece, and the electrical current is turned off.
The prior art tools are characterized by the fact that each stud to be welded to the workpiece must be individually and manually engaged with the tool electrode. This requires a considerable amount of manipulation and inconvenience, and increases the time required to weld each stud.
The present invention is based upon the discovery that a stud welding tool can be provided with a magazine capable of containing a number of studs. The present invention contemplates the use of a stud supporting and collating strip assembly made of two identical pieces of a collating strip. The invention further contemplates a unique drive assembly for shifting each stud, in sequence, to its proper position with respect to the tool to be welded to the workpiece. That part of the support and collating strip assembly from which studs have been welded and removed will simply part and bend out of the way during subsequent welding operations. When all of the studs of the strip assembly have been welded, the rearwardmost position of the strip assembly may be removed from the tool and the strip assembly may be discarded.